A combination machine for developing and printing photographic material continuously and automatically

Abstract: A combination machine (3) for developing and printing photographic material continously and automatically, composed of modules (4, 5, 6, 7) allowing easy mutual assembly and separation. The basic structure of such a machine comprises a module (4) for printing from film onto paper, surmounting a print developing module (5), this in turn positioned alongside a module (6) housing devices by which prints emerging from the developing module (5) are dried, as well as containers holding the liquids used to regenerate and replenish the various chemical treatment baths. An additional module (7) for developing film can be positioned on top of the drier module (6), whilst the print module (4) is also hinged at the bottom along one side to the outer edge of the module (5) beneath in such a way as to tilt clear and allow easy access to the inside of the machine (3) for the purposes of cleaning and servicing.

Description: The present invention relates to a combination machine for developing and printing photographic material. The prior art embraces automatic machines capable of developing exposed photographic films and printing the images from developed films onto light-sensitive paper, all of which continuously. Machines of the type in question find use principally in photographic laboratories where large quantities of photographic material are developed and printed; such machines require skilled and properly trained staff, and their typically substantial dimensions dictate a need for considerable amounts of space. There has been a trend over recent years for general photographic developing and printing services to be offered even by commercial enterprises with no claim to specialization in this particular field, for example stationers, department stores, etc., which endeavour to offer a comprehensive service though often with limited space at their disposal and without especially skilled staff. To combat such a situation, multifunctional automatic machines have been designed in which the developing and printing stages are incorporated into a single unit. EP-A-136 979 discloses a multifunctional machine in which the film processing section, the paper printing section and the paper processing section are placed within separate units. However, these machines tend still either to be bulky and therefore unsuitable for installation in the spaces typically available, or lacking in flexibility of use, able to produce only the more familiar commercial sizes of print and prevented by limited space from handling larger items such as 30x45 cm, so that for this type of business, which if retained would be a great advantage to the user given the notable added value attached, films must be sent to the specialized laboratories. Further negative aspects of these machines are to be found in their monolithic structure. In effect, the typical casing almost invariably presents an obstacle to the replacement of those units or devices such as the film developing unit, the printing unit, and the print developing unit, when found to fall short of the performance required or in the event of changes to the processing method. More exactly, units designed and built to perform single specific functions will be of characteristic shapes and dimensions that turn out in practice to be incompatible with those of other units, and must be separated one from another, with the result that space is taken up irrationally; if designed and built to be incorporated into an overall complex, on the other hand, such units will be effectively fixed, permitting of no modification or adaptation whatever, and still exhibiting significantly large dimensions. What is more, and especially in the case of monolithic types of structure, servicing operations are rendered troublesome since even the simplest of inspections can involve a laborious dismantling of a great many of the panels making up the outer casing of the machine. It would therefore be desirable, and such indeed is the principal object of the present invention, to provide a combination type machine for developing and printing photographic material continuously and automatically which is particularly compact and composed of easily assembled modular units, thus benefiting the user by its rational occupation of a notably limited space, also by an advantageous flexibility and simplicity of use and a more easy execution of servicing operations, and a simple and convenient alteration of the overall configuration to adapt the performance of the machine to new or changing user requirements; such a machine will also permit of rationalizing the organization of manufacturing operations by unifying production lines, reducing storage space requirements, and simplifying and streamlining the management of stock inventories. These and other objects besides are realized, according to the invention, in a machine as characterized in the appended claims. The features and advantages of the machine according to the invention will now be described in detail, strictly by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings of a possible embodiment in which: fig 1 is a perspective view of the machine according to the invention; fig 2 is a view identical to that of fig 1, but with the machine in a position allowing maintenance. Referring in particular to fig 1, it will be observed that the machine 3 according to the present invention is composed substantially of four modular compartments respectively accommodating: a print unit 4, comprising a device by which images are projected from film onto light-sensitive paper, the image being interposed between device and paper; a unit 5 by which the exposed light-sensitive paper is developed; a unit 6 by which the developed light-sensitive paper is dried, and which holds a supply of liquids used to regenerate and replenish the chemical treatment baths; a unit 7 internally of which the photographic film is developed and dried. The print module 4 is equipped in conventional manner with an optical sytem 8 by which negative film images are projected onto sheets of light-sensitive paper. Likewise conventionally, the print module 4 comprises a focusing lens, also a device of which the function is to analyze the percentage balance of the three primary colours in the negative and control the selection of filtration and illumination parameters for a correct reproduction of the image. The light-sensitive paper is developed in a module 5 located beneath the print module 4. The exposed sheet of paper is received by this module 5 from the print module 4 above and caused to pass through the chemical treatment baths, then transferred in its final printed and developed state, by means of conventional roller conveyor devices, into the adjacent drying and storage module 6. Inside the drying and storage module 6, the sheet of paper received from the developing module 5 is invested with blasts of warm air before being ejected ultimately from the machine by way of a slot 9. The film is developed internally of a module 7 designed to surmount the module 6 by which the prints are dried and in which the regenerating and replenishing liquids are stored; this module 7 comprises, in conventional manner, a plurality of vessels containing the chemical treatment baths. The photographic film developing module 7 will also be equipped typically with such devices as are necessary to control the time the film remains in the different baths, also the temperature, agitation, filtration, replenishment and recovery of the developer solutions. The film is directed through the succession of vessels containing the various chemicals by suitable conveyor devices, and then washed, dried and deposited finally in a tray 10 positioned on the topmost surface of the machine 3 to the rear of the loading unit 10a. The machine 3 is further equipped with conventional automatic replenishing systems capable of monitoring the consumption and gradual depletion of the various chemical treatment baths and making up the deficit from containers of the corresponding liquids mounted to the storage section of the relative module 6. It will be observed that the devices mentioned above, all of which conventional, are housed advantageously in the single compartments or modules, and that each such module is a self-contained unit. The modules are assembled in a removable association, each connected with the next by means of conventional mechanical and electrical devices. By virtue of this arrangement, the machine 3 according to the invention can incorporate a variety of modules to suit the requirements of the individual user. The basic configuration of the machine 3 might consist, for example, in a print module 4, a developing module 5 and a print drying module 6 also accommodating reserve supplies of regenerating and replenishing liquids. If requested by the user, the same basic machine could be equipped further with the module 7 for developing and drying photographic film. Fig 1 shows devices at the front of the machine 3 for controlling and displaying the various functions, and adjacent to these devices, a seat 12 for the operator who oversees the correct operation of the machine 3. The seat 12 is of an ergonomic design which ensures the comfort of the operator during the time spent at the controls of the machine. A further advantage of the machine 3 according to the present invention consists in the fact that the casing of the print module 4 is mounted in such a way as to facilitate servicing operations. More exactly, the shorter outermost side of the module is hinged along the bottom edge about a horizontal axis denoted x-x extending along the adjacent side wall of the machine (see fig 2). The casing is thus able to rotate clockwise, as viewed by the operator, affording access to internal parts of the machine 3 and facilitating the routine cleaning and maintenance operations performed on these same internal parts. It will be evident from the foregoing that key objects are realized in a machine 3 according to the invention, namely a notable compactness which allows the user a rational exploitation of limited spaces, the facility of selecting and altering the overall composition and even component parts by replacing the original modules with other modules more suitable or technologically more evolved, as well as a notable flexibility of use and conspicuous ease of maintenance; in addition, the particular architecture disclosed also allows a notable rationalization of industrial manufacturing procedures. In effect, the type of modular assembly featured in the machine 3 allows a user to effect an easy replacement, even on site, of those devices which may be discerned as inadequate when measured against the characteristics of the photographic material to be handled (quantity, chemical composition, etc) or when assessing the user's own working requirements; similarly, the makers of such machines are able to streamline their production and to manufacture the various modules for stock in readiness for assembly, at the moment of ordering, in response to the requirements of the individual purchaser. Finally, the expedient of incorporating at least one hinged casing, such as that of the print module 4 in the example illustrated, has the effect of simplifying and greatly facilitating the cleaning and servicing operations that need to be performed periodically on the machine 3. To advantage, the print module 4, and naturally the successive modules 5 and 6 by which the prints are developed and dried, will be proportioned in such a manner as to operate with sheets of light-sensitive paper exhibiting dimensions greater than those of the more familiar commercial sizes, so that the machine 3 will also be able to handle the larger photographic prints, for example 30x45 cm, which cannot be produced by conventional machines of comparable dimensions but only by machines of the type installed in specialized laboratories, whose services the user would otherwise need to employ; such a facility clearly allows the user to extend the performance of the machine significantly, and profitably, given the ability to respond directly and swiftly to the requests for this type of processing which are often advanced by customers, and which carry a considerable added value. Evidently, variations in embodiment might be applied to the machine 3 according to the invention without by any means abandoning the scope of the foregoing specification and the references to the accompanying drawings, neither straying from within the bounds of protection afforded by the claims appended.

Claims: A machine (3) for developing and printing photographic material continuously and automatically, comprising a unit (7) by which photographic film is developed and dried, a unit (4) by which the image on a film is printed onto a sheet of light-sensitive paper, this latter unit including a device by which the image is analyzed to ensure its accurate reproduction, a unit (5) for developing the light-sensitive paper, and a unit (6) for drying the light-sensitive paper, characterized in that the units (4,5,6,7) are accomodated within respective modular casings assembled in removable association one with another by way of mechanical and electrical connections; in that the modular casing of the unit (4) by which images are printed on light-sensitive paper is mounted above and in association with the modular casing of the unit (5) by which the light-sensitive paper is developed; in that the modular casing of the unit (6) for drying the light-sensitive paper is adjacent to the modular casing of the unit (5) for developing the light-sensitive paper; and in that the modular casing of the unit (7) for developing and drying photographic film is mounted above the modular casing of the unit (6) for drying the light-sensitive paper and also accomodates reserve supplies of regenerating and replenishing liquids. A machine as in claim 1, characterized in that the modular casing of the unit (4),by which images are printed on light-sensitive paper,is tiltable by rotation about a horizontal axis (x-x) extending along the adjacent side wall of the machine (3) in such a way as to rotate clockwise, as viewed by the operator, for affording access to internal parts of the machine (3) and for facilitating the periodical servicing and inspecting operations.

Inventors: FRACAS FRANCO, FRANCI GIOSUE, RONZANI GIUSEPPE, FRACAS, FRANCO, FRANCI, GIOSUE', RONZANI, GIUSEPPE
Applicants: SAN MARCO IMAGING SRL, SAN MARCO IMAGING S.R.L.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: G03D15
IPC codes: G03B27